The king acted quickly. Volodislav, with Sudislav and Philip, were placed under guard, and then tortured; after this they were exiled. Sudislav, however, bought his freedom. “He turned himself into gold,” as is said by the chronicler. Volodislav was sent to Hungary in fetters, but he had two brothers in freedom, who were precisely such wily heroes as Volodislav himself. These men appeared now before Mystislav, whose brother, Ingvar, had [[175]]not been in Galitch without a purpose. All Volynia rose in revolt quickly, and made war on Andrei. Volynia was managed at this time by Leshko of Poland. This guardian of Vassilko had taken Bailz from his ward and given it back to Bailski, his father-in-law. The little Vassilko had been forced to hide himself in the poor town of Kamenyets. No one knew well, save the managers, what was happening in Volynia. To the outward observer there was chaos everywhere. In Galitch confusion seemed dominant. Reports were brought in that countless regiments were moving against the city. The people were ready to surrender, and go out and join with those regiments. Daniel and his mother, whom the king had brought back, fled now to save themselves, and Mystislav the Silent, who had been brought by Volodislav’s brothers, entered the city in triumph.
After this incredible triumph of Mystislav, came the still more incredible triumph of the chief of these brothers, Volodislav. From fetters and a prison in Hungary, he appeared before the king in his palace, and was nearer to power than he had ever been. A report flew through the country that the king was disposed to give him the throne of Galitch, and in fact not much time passed before Volodislav, at the head of Hungarians and a mercenary army, broke into Galitch.
Mystislav the Silent, whose rule had been short-lived, left his capital, and vanished. His place was immediately occupied by Volodislav. The chronicler says that he took the throne and ruled Galitch. All this was incredible only in appearance, for everything took place in the simplest manner possible.
The Poles and Hungarians, who were guarding the persons, and also the inheritance of Daniel and Vassilko, vied with each other in turning this inheritance to their own use and profit. Neither lacked will in the matter; means alone failed them. The determination of Hungarians equaled that of the Poles, but their absence of means was equal also. The Poles tried to win by bringing forward their kinship in Russia. The Hungarians worked in another way. They promised to give the boyars of Galitch a constitution like that in Hungary. They agreed to deliver the whole land and the people to those boyars.
Volodislav’s aims were clear and consistent. A year earlier, he had promised the submission of Galitch; he had guaranteed [[176]]to snatch the whole land from Igor’s sons and return it to Hungary. This he had done, and the king might have placed there as viceroy any boyar whom he liked, but to have Daniel thrust upon this party of magnates was unendurable. Volodislav had fulfilled his promise, and now he explained to Andrei that Galitch did not want a Russian prince; it wanted to be governed by boyars associated intimately with Hungary. This time Volodislav assured the king of a satisfactory agreement. Thus the solid union of Galitch with Hungary seemed imminent.
Andrei sent Volodislav forward with associates to bring all things to order, while he, with his main army, followed. He was on the Russian slope of the mountains when news overtook him of a terrible outburst in Hungary, not simply in the kingdom, but in his own palace.
Andrei had been forced to yield more than any preceding king, to do more toward lessening royal power and building up nobles. Gertrude, his queen, was ambitious. A German princess, she had filled Hungary with her relatives and with Germans in general. She had urged Andrei to cruelties, and in retaliation attacks upon Hungarians were increasing. The queen helped her relatives and countrymen to wealth and high places. She was fond also of aiding in love intrigues. Eckbert, her brother, became enamoured of the wife of Benedict Bor, the man known in Galitch as Antichrist. The queen permitted the lovers to meet in the palace, even in one of her own chambers. Though Bor was notorious for absence of morals, and was in the habit of seizing other men’s wives if they pleased him, he could not pardon the queen, when her love intrigues involved his own family. The king being absent, Bor joined with other avengers, and slew a great number of Germans. Queen Gertrude was cut into pieces, and the whole palace was plundered. This was the news brought to Andrei in the mountains.
He returned to his capital by forced marches, and quelled the savage outburst with great bloodshed.
Volodislav, sent in advance of the king to take possession of Galitch, acted like a man clothed in majesty. No matter how far-reaching were his powers, he increased them, since the king was not present.
When Andrei had put down the uprising and freed himself [[177]]somewhat in Hungary, he hurried off to make war on Leshko for his ravages in Galitch, which the king looked on as his own spoil and property. Leshko, besides guarding Vassilko, had taken on himself the care of Daniel. For the sake of these orphans, as he declared, he was ready to fight for Galitch as well as Volynia. Daniel, on seeing the terrible bloodshed in Hungary when Queen Gertrude was murdered, withdrew thence to Poland, where he got naught from Leshko but a reception with honor; later he went to Kamenyets, where his brother was living. There, still more than in Bailz, was Vassilko attended by the ancient adherents of Roman, his father. Daniel, who was of an age now to ride a horse splendidly, joined them, and Roman’s boyars rallied round the brothers with enthusiasm. Leshko could not hide his astonishment on seeing that after Bailz had been taken from Vassilko not one of those faithful adherents abandoned the orphans, and when a whole court gathered round them in Kamenyets, he was still more disquieted. “Thenceforward, Leshko felt great affection for Daniel.”